Mountain Trails Gallery
Photography: Timothy Thimmes
When Adam Warner was a boy, his grandmother took him to visit major art museums in New York City — the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Frick and the Whitney. “Back then, I enjoyed art and kind of wanted it, but never imagined myself as a future gallery owner,” Warner says.
Warner was bartending in Santa Fe, New Mexico when a local gallery employee told him that the gallery needed someone to input invoices. “It was comical, because I couldn’t type. I told them I could — like 70 words a minute,” Warner remembers. “It took me weeks to complete tasks that should have taken days.”
Then fate stepped in. For two days, gallery owner Ken Payne had Warner work the gallery floor. “I sold six paintings and two bronzes the second day. Ken kept me on the floor after that,” Warner recalls. After two years, Warner moved on to work in a Beverly Hills gallery. “Then Ken convinced me to go work in his gallery in Jackson Hole one summer.” Warner enjoyed the mountain atmosphere so much that he accepted Payne’s invitation to manage the Park City Mountain Trails Gallery on Main Street when it opened in December 1998.
Mountain Trails Gallery’s building, formerly Park City’s First National Bank, dates back nearly 100 years. The old brick walls, bank vault and high tin ceilings provide a complementary backdrop for one of Utah’s largest bodies of Western art. “Our focus has always been oil paintings and bronze sculptures,” says Warner. “We feature 15 different bronze artists — more than anyone else in Utah.”
The gallery’s collection has gradually shifted and is now almost evenly divided between contemporary and Western artists. “We started out more Western than we are now,” Warner explains. “Today, some works are even modern. I’m a fan of modern art. But because we are in a western town, I would never be comfortable going completely abstract, just because it is not our style.”
The gallery’s collection of Utah artists has steadily increased. “Now half of our best artists are Utahns,” says Warner. Salt Laker Simon Winegar has a contemporary tonalist feel for landscapes. Third generation Parkite Scott Richardson specializes in rural Northern Utah landscapes. Another Salt Laker, Greg Overton, paints historic Native American warriors by first studying their history and reviewing historic photos. From his research, he constructs a story to include with each painting.
Mountain Trails Gallery also features the work of Texan Oleg Stavrowsky, who, at 81, has painted for over 50 years. His large-scale works, some sized at six by eight feet, include classic Western Americana, such as stagecoach or holdup scenes. Gallery Web site browsers can click on an artist’s name to see examples of his or her work.
Warner acquires new artists in several ways. “If an artist is someone I’ve heard of, I will call him or her or talk to one of their agents. If people drop by the gallery and we like their work, we will give them a shot.” He adds that he usually acquires only one or two new artists annually, “because there is only so much wall space.”
Sales trends change annually. “This year, small bronze sculpture sales have declined a bit, but larger bronze sales have accelerated,” says Warner. “The top sales lately have been Native American paintings.” Mountain Trails Gallery participates in Park City’s monthly Gallery Strolls, and throughout the winter months and in July and August, the gallery hosts an artist’s reception every Saturday. Year-round, visitors can observe clay originals that are the beginning of the bronze process and see works-in-progress by bronze sculptors who create in the gallery. “We have assembled a friendly group, and we don’t pressure anybody for art sales,” explains Warner.
Warner initially planned to open Mountain Trails Gallery and stay in Park City for only two years. Now he’s been here 10. He purchased the gallery five years ago and hopes to call it home forever. “I’m fortunate enough to live in Old Town, so I can walk to work. It’s a great community with lots of great store owners who are my friends. I love the skiing and golf.”
Warner adds that business is good, and there are now more Park City galleries than ever before. He visualizes Park City as evolving into a place like Jackson Hole, where people visit “not just for the skiing, but specifically to see the galleries and shop for art.”
Warner is currently considering expansion into other markets, and hopes to own three galleries some day. “I’m a big fan of Sun Valley, Idaho. It’s only a four-hour drive from Park City, and I’ve found a great spot. If I decide to open another gallery there, it could happen in the next six months.”
Carolyn Campbell is the author of three nationally-published books and 800 magazine articles. She lives in Salt Lake City.
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